MSF-backed hospital in Syria destroyed by air strikes

Feb 16, 2016, 13:55

Gaziantep - An MSF-supported hospital in Idlib province in northern Syria was destroyed in an attack on Monday morning.

Another attack occurred near Maaret al-Numan in the northern province of Idlib, where a hospital supported by the medical charity MSF was "deliberately" hit by air strikes and eight people are missing, MSF said in a statement.

"A building that housed a hospital supported by MSF was destroyed on Monday by aircraft, presumably Russian", the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) told AFP.

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They said at least five missiles hit the hospital in the town centre and a nearby school, where refugees fleeing a major Syrian army offensive were sheltering.

Abdulrahman Al-Hassan, chief liaison officer at the Syrian Civil Defence, a group of first responders known as the "White Helmets", said the women's hospital in Azaz was hit by two surface-to-surface missiles. "The destruction of this hospital deprives about 40,000 people of health care in this conflict zone". The raid also left dozens of others wounded, it added.

An MSF spokesman confirmed that a hospital supported by the aid group was struck in Maaret al-Numan, about 280 kilometres (170 miles) north of Damascus, but was unable to give a death toll. In January, a projectile hit a facility in Yemen, killing at least four people in the latest a series of incidents at its operations there.

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Al-Jubeir said that the details of Saudi Arabia's participation in Syria are being discussed by specialists. Until now, the Saudis have limited their involvement to arming and supplying certain rebel groups in Syria.

The Observatory and al-Halaby also reported an air raid on the village of Kaljibrin near Azaz.

A Turkish official says Ankara received with astonishment Washington calls on Turkey to hold fire against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria. It says nine people were killed, including a nurse and eight civilians.

Syria's main Kurdish faction, the People's Protection Units, has been most effective in combating the Islamic State group, but Turkey appears uneasy over the group's recent gains.

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Speaking in Kiev, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blamed Russian Federation for the strikes in Azaz, which is close to the Turkish border, claiming Moscow had targeted the complex with ballistic missiles fired from the Caspian Sea. It said journalist Mazem Mohammed was in stable conditions.